Completed Event: Women's Golf at Leadership and Golf Invitational on September 15, 2025 , , T-6th of 16
W Golf
at Leadership and Golf Invitational
T-6th of 16
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, February 25
Phoenix, Ariz.
Grand Canyon
vs
GCU Invitational
Coro: Women's golf looks at home
2/25/2018 4:41:00 PM | Women's Golf, Paul Coro
Lopes rally in final round; Vogel ties for 3rd
FINAL RESULTS
The Grand Canyon women's golf players know the GCU Golf Course like their childhood backyards.
They know every ripple of the greens, each bunker hiding behind a dogleg and what is on The Lope House menu. But for Saturday's first two rounds of GCU Invitational, they played the course like a road tournament. On Sunday, they felt and looked like they were at home as GCU posted the tourney's low team round with sophomore Courtney Vogel and senior Deanna Salvatori rallying to the top 10.
The Lopes moved to fourth place, one stroke off third place, in the 15-team tournament by recording a one-under team round Sunday that was 20 strokes better than each of its first two rounds.
Vogel birdied four of her final five holes to shoot four-under 68, a personal tournament record, and finish in a tie for third place among 85 players. Salvatori, playing her final home tournament, tied for seventh place by firing a two-under round of 70.
"They came back from a pretty rough day," Lopes head coach Lauren Giesecke said. "None of them really felt like they had a good tournament for the first 36 holes. For them to dig down deep, they came out and proved themselves. It's probably one of our best rounds of the season. I'm pretty proud of how they came back."
The Lopes felt out of their element Saturday from the moment they teed off amid the rare cold and wind. They admittedly were not as loose as usual because they expected to win their home tournament.
"Everyone said to each other at one point that it looked like we had never played this golf course before," Salvatori said. "That was really frustrating for us. We were in places that we actually had never, ever been before and we've played at least 100 rounds out here."
Vogel moved from 23rd place after two rounds to a tie for third place on the final day by attacking the pins with an aggressive "nothing-to-lose" mentality. She one-putted the final five holes to finish two strokes behind medalist Kelly Hooper of Montana State.
"I just really played my heart out today and I fought like I didn't yesterday," Vogel said. "That's a lot more of the Courtney that I knew today. I wasn't analytical. I just played like I usually do on this golf course. Nothing was holding me back."
Lopes freshman Siripatsorn Patchana proved to be the most resilient. During the second round, Patchana was struck in the back of the head by a ball. She not only continued but managed to shoot one-under par for the remainder of the tournament.
GCU's finish can be a momentum builder with the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson one week away and the WAC Championships ahead on April 16-18 in Phoenix at Legacy Golf Club.
"This experience has helped us because it's proven that we can come from behind," Salvatori said. "We don't want to be behind but there's going to be tough competition at WAC and now we won't get too down on ourselves because we know we can come back. It's a learning experience. We've had a lot of them but this is another one we needed to have."
Portland State repeated as GCU Invitational champions with a three-round score of 23-over par.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
The Grand Canyon women's golf players know the GCU Golf Course like their childhood backyards.
They know every ripple of the greens, each bunker hiding behind a dogleg and what is on The Lope House menu. But for Saturday's first two rounds of GCU Invitational, they played the course like a road tournament. On Sunday, they felt and looked like they were at home as GCU posted the tourney's low team round with sophomore Courtney Vogel and senior Deanna Salvatori rallying to the top 10.
The Lopes moved to fourth place, one stroke off third place, in the 15-team tournament by recording a one-under team round Sunday that was 20 strokes better than each of its first two rounds.
Vogel birdied four of her final five holes to shoot four-under 68, a personal tournament record, and finish in a tie for third place among 85 players. Salvatori, playing her final home tournament, tied for seventh place by firing a two-under round of 70.
"They came back from a pretty rough day," Lopes head coach Lauren Giesecke said. "None of them really felt like they had a good tournament for the first 36 holes. For them to dig down deep, they came out and proved themselves. It's probably one of our best rounds of the season. I'm pretty proud of how they came back."
The Lopes felt out of their element Saturday from the moment they teed off amid the rare cold and wind. They admittedly were not as loose as usual because they expected to win their home tournament.
"Everyone said to each other at one point that it looked like we had never played this golf course before," Salvatori said. "That was really frustrating for us. We were in places that we actually had never, ever been before and we've played at least 100 rounds out here."
Vogel moved from 23rd place after two rounds to a tie for third place on the final day by attacking the pins with an aggressive "nothing-to-lose" mentality. She one-putted the final five holes to finish two strokes behind medalist Kelly Hooper of Montana State.
"I just really played my heart out today and I fought like I didn't yesterday," Vogel said. "That's a lot more of the Courtney that I knew today. I wasn't analytical. I just played like I usually do on this golf course. Nothing was holding me back."
Lopes freshman Siripatsorn Patchana proved to be the most resilient. During the second round, Patchana was struck in the back of the head by a ball. She not only continued but managed to shoot one-under par for the remainder of the tournament.
GCU's finish can be a momentum builder with the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson one week away and the WAC Championships ahead on April 16-18 in Phoenix at Legacy Golf Club.
"This experience has helped us because it's proven that we can come from behind," Salvatori said. "We don't want to be behind but there's going to be tough competition at WAC and now we won't get too down on ourselves because we know we can come back. It's a learning experience. We've had a lot of them but this is another one we needed to have."
Portland State repeated as GCU Invitational champions with a three-round score of 23-over par.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Players Mentioned
Head Coach Brent Nicoson Meets the Team | August 29, 2024
Friday, February 07